come off

verb

came off; come off; coming off; comes off

intransitive verb

1

a

: to acquit oneself : fare

came off well in the contest

b

: appear, seem

2

: succeed

His plans to start a business never came off.

3

: happen, occur

4

US, informal

—used in phrases like where do you come off? to express anger or annoyance at what someone has said or done

Marie was bent over the table now, reading, her piping girlish voice hot with indignation. "Where does she come off, anyway?"

—T. Coraghessan Boyle

transitive verb

1

: to have recently completed or recovered from

coming off a good year

2

: to have recently stopped using (an illegal drug)

an addict who is coming off heroin

Synonyms of come off

• happen
• be
• come
• come to pass
• occur
• come down

Examples of come off in a Sentence

couldn't believe that the wedding would actually come off—they've been “just dating” for years

the attempted revival of the city's downtown never really came off, and even more stores eventually closed

Recent Examples on the Web

Dutchman Pascal Struijk came off the bench in the 93rd minute of 94 against Leeds, his former club, after picking up an injury during pre-season. — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026

Zumthor himself doesn’t have the most interesting personal history — at least, not as far as this film is concerned — so Wenders’ exploration can come off as superficial at first. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 6 Sep. 2026

One year later, after being combative and guarded in his rookie season, that armor appears to be coming off. — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026

Inter Miami was coming off a 7-1 rout of CF Montreal in which Messi had a historic four-goal performance. — Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Rhymes for come off

• cerenkov
• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff